Flower picking

 A few weekends ago Mark & I headed to Forage Farm near Cowbridge for flower picking! We started off planning to look at them all before choosing which to pick, but about halfway through we'd fallen in love with a stem, picked it, and subsequently opened the floodgates to pick everyyyyy flower! We ended up with a gorgeous bunch and a lovely afternoon out in the sun. 

And a tractor boy.

We're already anticipating the pumpkin picking season...! 🎃

Exam news

At the start of July I sat the first of 3 my speciality exams (MRCOG = Member of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists). Today I found out I passed - YAY!

 

Visits from the Grown Ups

 The last two weekends have been filled with parents visiting, clamouring to see me before I delve back into the dark depths of a medical training programme.

Mark and I have started to look into buying a house (still many moons away but fun to look), so dad was bought on a tour of our potential future neighbourhood of Penylan, mainly to satisfy my craving for another trip to Penylan Pantry. One shower of rain only, so a lovely walk around the parks!

On Monday dad and I headed up to the Black Mountain to do my favourite hike - the ridge around Llyn y Fan Fach and Fan Fawr. It managed to be both more and less misty than the last time I did it.

And they've repainted the trig - I like it both ways.

2024:

2022:

We were planning to get to the National Park Visitor Centre before it closed, but got held up by road closures and some certain Welsh natives. Fortunately, Google maps was wrong about the closing time so we had time for tea and cake. 

The following weekend mum and JC popped up - apparently to visit me but most likely so she could go on a boat trip. There are 2 islands in the Bristol Channel that I cycle past regularly when I go over the Cardiff barrage; Flat Holm and Steep Holm. Steep Holm is English and only accessible from England, whereas Flat Holm is Welsh and accessible from Cardiff - yay! Please enjoy my cunning diagram. 

   

The boat trip took us through the extensive lock system in the barrage and then out into the open water of the channel. We had a great tour from one of the volunteer wardens, and learnt all about Flat Holm's history which included multiple military purposes, a home for a lighthouse and foghorn, cholera/isolation hospital, and possibly once a monastery. Did you know that Holm is the Old Norse word for 'small island'? Cool! About 8 (rare Boreray) sheep live on the island as well as 2 types of gull (Grey and Lesser Black-backed) and lots of rabbits. We finished up with a quick cup of tea in apparently the most Southerly pub in Wales - it has a sign to prove it. The way back involved getting from low tide/sea level up back to barrage level through the lock, which was probably around a 5m rise in just a few minutes. 

I wonder where I get the need to walk on everything from:

Thanks for visiting lovely parents (+JC)! And thank you for the many teas and cakes and takeaway...

Moving those legs

Eryri

Earlier this week I went on a wee trip to North Wales (Eryri). I'd decided to go for 'luxury' camping this time - i.e. upgrading from my 2 man tent with no porch to a 4 man tent with a whole living space area I can stand up and sit in! I also bought a lot of other useful bits and bobs such as tables, a lamp, water bladder, washing up bowl, water container etc. I justified it all to myself by remembering that this will all last, and it's still cheaper than an abroad holiday. And yet Mark still doesn't have a roll mat, sleeping bag, or chair... ah well!

I drove up on Friday afternoon and arrived at the campsite to a lot of wind. Fortunately, a kind couple saw me struggling with my big tent and helped me to put it up - thank you!! Then I was in and settled in my mansion. Tea and a (cloudy) view (ignore the mess).

Unfortunately the weather wasn't on my side despite sun the week before (and it turns out the week following). On Saturday I parked at Aberglaslyn and headed NE towards Cam Bychan. It was a nice quiet and rugged start to the day, with what presumably is some copper mining remnants. I then turned towards Beddgelert where I stopped for a lovely cuppa and some bara brith. I attempted to join a birthday call for Caitlin but unfortunately Eryri isn't known for it's connectivity. I saw signs towards Gelert's grave but decided to skip it - apparently Gelert was Prince Llewelyn the Great's dog. Read the story linked - poor dog! I headed back along the Aberglaslyn gorge by the Glaslyn river - what a gorgeous walk. It was varied, with scrambling, boardwalks, stone buttresses, and a steam train at one point!

 

The next day the weather still wasn't any better, so I headed to Betws-y-Coed (as is obligatory on any Eryri trip). Had a nice wee walk along the river after my lunch of chips, and popped into many an outdoor shop on the way back. A chai latte this time, watching the baby train go around. Then back to my cosy tent set up for tea. 

That night was a big windy one, and with a big tunnel tent and on my own I was pretty nervous (and sending lots of texts to my dad) all night. Whilst the clouds had cleared on Monday, the wind was still very high, and being on my own I just didn't want to risk going up a mountain. I had planned to stay for a couple more days, but ultimately got fed up, lonely and bored of waiting for the weather to change so headed back to South Wales. I did manage to bag a walk I've been meaning to do for a while but haven't got around to in South Wales (as it's just too short to justify the 1hr drive) - Skirrid Fawr. And I had a special guest. 

Next few days

I spent the next few days enjoying the glorious weather (of course, it appears now...), although I really am missing cosy winter weather. I was treated to a visit by the lovely John & Jaqueline on Thursday where we ate scrummy quiches and gelato/sorbet. 

Meanwhile, Mark was gallivanting in Munich for the week. We crossed paths on between midnight on Friday night (post work) and early Saturday morning (pre train).  

London

Months ago I'd persuaded Cait to sign up for the London 10k with me - not really thinking about the fact that July would likely be very warm. We got really lucky, and the first 4km was overcast with a breeze - lush! The next 6km was more of a struggle, and I was feeling the fatigue and lack of recent runs (I'd been avoiding the heat!) - but we did it! (feat some poor screenshots I'm not willing to pay for). Cue a 30,000 step day once we'd done some shopping (yes I bought a wool jumper) and a trip to Gail's to play Carcassonne.

Now

And now back to Cardiff! I've not been managing to get very many/trying hard to get work shifts recently, so I have none planned this week. I'm slowly getting prepared for the new job in August, and the most exciting bit of this was buying myself a new shiny toy - an iPad! I've coveted one every since they came out and decided not only is it lovely to have, it'll also be useful at work to use where I can for revision/work/notes etc. So I'll spend this week playing with that (and doing housework and cooking and running but generally lounging around). I'm so firmly in the Apple ecosphere. (ecosystem?)